Teenagers SC at loggerheads with Oshana NFA exco

Oshana Village-based Football League (OVBFL) side Teenagers Sport Club is accusing the executive committee of the Namibia Football Association (NFA) in the Oshana Region of corrupt football administration. The club’s leadership feels the Oshana NFA exco robbed its players of the opportunity to participate in promotional playoffs which gave the two top teams of the OVBFL a chance to battle it out for the region’s second division football league qualification every year. The exco is in turn accusing the team of match-fixing. The chairperson of the Teenagers Sport Club, Philip Dala, told Nampa in an interview on Wednesday that the Oshana NFA exco allegedly changed the NFA promotional playoffs rule “overnight” for reasons “only known to the exco members”. Teenagers finished the OVBFL 2012/13 season in second position with 50 points, and the club hoped to play promotional games against J Aron Football Club that won the OVBFL 2012/13 title with 57 points, as well as the two teams at the bottom of the Oshana Region’s Second Division League. Vietnam Rangers and Poison Arrows are the two bottom teams of the Oshana Region Second Division League. “To our surprise, these guys (Oshana NFA Exco members) granted J Aron an automatic promotion to fill the position left unoccupied in the second division by Young Chiefs FC, who qualified for the Far North First Division League this season,” Dala said. The automatic promotion of J Aron FC to Oshana NFA Second Division League, he said, is “nothing but a corrupt and unprocedural resolution”. “Why [was there] a need to cut off valid playoffs overnight?” Dala demanded to know. He said his club, which used to be part of the Oshana NFA Second Division League before it was relegated to the OVBFL due to poor performance three years ago, will not return to the OVBFL this season. “We will take them to court if they continue denying us participation in the playoffs. We have already approached our lawyer to see to it that the exco is taken to task for not acknowledging our cry,” Dala said. Approached for comment, the chairperson of the Oshana NFA exco, Frans Mbidi, rubbished Teenagers Sport Club’s allegations. He said the playoffs could not go ahead because the last OVBFL activities contained irregularities and were not properly concluded. According to Mbidi, his committee’s decision is actually in Teenagers Sport Club’s favour as the team stands accused of match-fixing – an offence which could see the team banned from football for life if found guilty. Teenagers handed Golden Stars FC an incredible 29-2 defeat during their last match of the season. It is alleged that Teenagers paid the Golden Stars team and match officials for assistance in obtaining the high score as the team reportedly needed 21 goals to win the league on a goal difference against the J Aron FC.